Chapter Eleven: Student Council President Diablo

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According to what he had heard about the Misty City, this woman ought to be a Muggle.

Xia Xiu studied the woman before him. Her face was unnaturally flushed, and she was behaving with extraordinary panic. He reached his conclusion inwardly.

“Um... I’m Camille Siffney.” Camille introduced herself awkwardly as she looked at the boy, who seemed several years younger than her.

“Hugh. Hugh Abraham.” Xia Xiu gave the name recorded for him in the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy.

“Hugh, you seem to know where this place is. You’re not panicking at all. Are you a resident here?” Camille asked cautiously, looking at the amiable Xia Xiu.

“I know of this place, but this is my first time here as well. This is the supernatural enclave of Three Portlands. We were all invited here by Three Portlands. As for the reason behind the invitation, it has something to do with a supernatural academy called Deer College. Unless something unexpected happens, we’ll be classmates from now on.”

Xia Xiu briefly explained her current situation.

“Three Portlands... a student of Deer College...” Camille murmured blankly to herself.

“Hoo-hoo—”

An owl flew onto Camille’s shoulder and hooted at her, as though urging her to do something.

“I have no idea what you’re saying!” Camille said helplessly to the owl on her shoulder.

“Hoo-hoo-hoo—”

A snowy owl flew onto Xia Xiu’s shoulder as well. It cast the other owl a pitying glance.

The student you brought with you seems rather stupid.

“Ms. Camille, this is a spirit familiar of Deer College. It’s an etheric spirit from the Etheric Ocean, and one of Deer College’s familiars.”

Xia Xiu stroked the snowy owl, which narrowed its eyes in contentment.

Seeing this, Camille reached out to pet her own owl. Unfortunately, the creature clearly had no fondness for her and immediately pecked her hand with its beak.

“What’s with you? If you won’t let me pet you, then forget it.” Camille rubbed her pecked hand and puffed up angrily.

The owl could not be bothered with the foolish girl. It spread its wings and soared into the distance, with the snowy owl following close behind.

“Come on. Follow the spirit familiars. They’ll lead us to Deer College.”

Xia Xiu leisurely followed the two birds. Camille hurried after him.

* * *

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Southeastern District of Three Portlands—Deer College, House of Languages.

“There are fifty-six new students in total, eighteen of whom were admitted through recommendation,” Mansour reported to Lawnken.

“Mm, I know. Bring all the little fawns of the future over here,” Lawnken said with a gentle smile.

“Understood.”

Mansour instructed the spirit familiars to bring all the new students over.

Before long, countless owls scattered throughout the area began leading their respective students toward the House of Languages. The bewildered little fawns were herded there one after another. Those who resisted too fiercely were simply dragged along by their collars in the owls’ beaks.

By the time Xia Xiu and Camille arrived, most of the new fawns had already gathered at the House of Languages.

Camille edged closer to Xia Xiu and tugged at his sleeve, signaling for him to look to the side.

Xia Xiu followed her gaze. Several “foreign” students stood there.

The word “foreign” did not mean that they were foreigners. It meant that they were not human—or at least, not very human.

In the direction Xia Xiu was watching, a girl stood at the head of the group. She was two meters tall, with brown hair tied in a ponytail. Aside from her height, she also had a writhing eyeball embedded in the center of her brow.

Beside the three-eyed girl stood several other nonhuman beings: an upright fishman; a small dog sitting on a flying carpet; and a gentleman in a suit who possessed four arms and eight eyes.

The three-eyed girl seemed to notice Xia Xiu and Camille staring at her. She turned her head toward them. When Camille saw her looking over, she shrank behind Xia Xiu in fright. Xia Xiu merely lifted his hat slightly, then offered the three-eyed girl an apologetic smile.

The three-eyed girl nodded understandingly before looking away.

Xia Xiu turned to Camille, who was hiding behind him.

“Camille, you can’t go on like this. Three Portlands and Deer College both advocate openness and inclusivity. Deer College’s admissions standards aren’t restricted to humans. Look over there—there are even several ghost students.”

“I—I just haven’t gotten used to it yet,” Camille stammered.

Everything before her had struck a violent blow to her worldview. She needed time to recover.

As many of the students began familiarizing themselves with one another and whispering among themselves, a voice suddenly rang out in the minds of every new student.

A figure floated above the crowd, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

“Ahem, ahem. Since everyone is here, allow me to give you a brief introduction.

“I am Diablo, president of Deer College’s student union.”

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Mental resonance, and attention redirection as well...

Xia Xiu raised his head and watched Diablo above him, his brows drawing together slightly. He did not actually want to maintain this tortoise-like posture, with his head stretched upward, but unfortunately he had fallen victim to the other man’s memetic contamination. He had no choice but to remain like this.

“Deer College is a magical place. Of course, you probably already know that, since those foolish owls over there brought you here, whether you came willingly or not.”

“Hoo-hoo-hoo—”

“HOO-HOO-HOO!!!”

The owls below angrily screeched at Diablo overhead. Our student union president ignored the familiars’ displeasure and continued speaking as though nothing had happened.

“Welcome, incoming freshmen. You are about to embark upon the worst four years of your lives. Well, it might be five years or six years. Either way, it will be dreadful.

“During your time at Deer College, you will encounter horrors the likes of which you have never seen before: five-hour thaumaturgical experiments, tedious lectures on genealogies, bottomless mugs of cafeteria coffee, the all-seeing eyes of community security personnel, and, lurking at the very end, the terrifying graduation thesis. Your physical, mental, and spiritual health will all deteriorate. You will churn out paper after paper in vast quantities, without regard for quality, and each subject will be more obscure and incomprehensible than the last.

“You will also have to face the annoying GPA wraiths.

“You know, those black chatter-clouds flying barely above the ground around campus—the ones that like to hide beside corridor lamps and smother the light, or hover over the library while questioning the meaning of life. Yes, those are definitely wraiths, unless what you’ve seen was actually a research report that escaped from the laboratory of some meteorological mage.

“There are always theorists trying to prove that these wraiths possess no genuine consciousness. They insist that they’re merely collections of resentment formed by students who failed to earn enough credits to graduate. Personally, I think they’ve been paid off by interested parties to say that. Don’t they understand how terrifying it is not to earn enough credits?”

“My life is ruined, the world is ending, my girlfriend ran off with my best friend, and you’re telling me that still doesn’t count as independent consciousness? If that doesn’t count, then what does?!”

As he spoke, Diablo gradually descended into muttering. Just as he was preparing to continue along his increasingly derailed line of thought, he felt a cold gaze upon him.

Following it, he saw Dr. Lawnken smiling pleasantly at him over the rims of his spectacles.

“Ahem, ahem. Let us continue with the new-student orientation.

“In a moment, we will inoculate all the little fawns present with the latest memetic vaccine. We will also connect you to the Deer College Genealogy. For the next few years, you will be members of Deer College.

“Oh, and those of you who got in through unofficial channels may connect to the Genealogy as well. Deer College has a shared genealogical knowledge base. You will be granted access and informed of the shared password later.

“As for those of you who were abducted here by owls, you may apply for subsidies to be sent to your families. Deer College will provide them with money. Though I doubt many people will apply. The spirit familiars only seek out students who possess an especially strong desire to escape their current circumstances.”